Tag: Grant Miehm

Monday Morning Stuff

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Howard Chaykin's The Shadow
Howard Chaykin’s The Shadow

A new week begins and with it comes the hope that things will take on a clearer shape. Cross your fingers for me, if you would.

I have been continuing to add to the crossover novel and I’ve passed the 5,000 mark on it. Since I’m aiming for a 60,000 word tale, I’ve still got a ways to go. But it will all add up in the end!

I also managed to released the 62nd episode of The Shadow Fan’s Podcast this morning. It’s our first episode since December 18! Sorry for the amazingly long delay.

Joshua Pantalleresco was kind enough to interview me for his blog. Please check it out here if you’re so inclined!

About to crack open a reference book about one of pulp’s most successful characters — this character will be playing a large role not only in Götterdämmerung (the crossover novel) but in future works set in my shared universe, as well. I’m appropriating this public domain hero and taking ownership of him. I do plan to switch him up a bit, which won’t please everyone… but I think I’ll stick with the core of the character and hopefully revitalize him along the way.

Also, please don’t forget to check out Tales of The Rook Volume Two. It features stories by Adam Garcia, James Palmer, David White and Sean Taylor, all of whom are awesome writers. It also features a spiffy cover by the legendary Grant Miehm! Right now it’s a kindle exclusive but it will be available in print soon.

Tales of The Rook Volume Two Is Here!

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tales2TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO DEBUTS EXCLUSIVELY ON KINDLE FROM PRO SE PRODUCTIONS

A leading publisher in New Pulp and Genre Fiction, Pro Se Productions announces the debut of its newest title exclusively on the Kindle for a limited time.

The Rook Lives Again! Well known Genre Fiction author Barry Reese created one of the seminal characters of New Pulp when he penned ‘Lucifer’s Cage,’ an engaging adventure story starring Max Davies, troubled millionaire who also fought crime of all colors as the masked vigilante, The Rook! Once more Reese opens the doors wide into the rich, varied universe of his best known character and welcomes a host of authors to tell their own takes on Max Davies and company in TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO from Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions!

Compelled through dark dreams to hunt down and destroy evil wherever it might hide! Assisted by loyal friends and a vast array of allies from the annals of Classic and New Pulp as well as Comics of a bygone era, The Rook’s escapades have been a hallmark in the world of New Pulp!

TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME 2 features stories by David White, Sean Taylor, Jim Palmer, Russ Anderson, and Adam Lance Garcia, as well as a new interview with ROOK creator Reese, a script for an unproduced ROOK cartoon short, and an updated timeline of the Reese Unlimited Universe. TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO takes Reese’s original creation to all new heights, to places not even The Rook has gone before.

“The TALES OF THE ROOK concept,” Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “was born out of Barry’s desire to see how others would handle his character, how other writers would play in the Reese Unlimited sandbox. I thought it was a fantastic idea and still do. The batch of writers Barry has brought on this time to tell their own tales of Max and company are some of the best in the business today and take The Rook in some really fun directions. Different styles on an established character are always fun.”

TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO is debuting as a Kindle exclusive initially and will be available in print in coming days.

“We are seeing,” says Hancock, “a great number of sales in ebooks, particularly Kindle, so debuting the latest Reese Unlimited book as a Kindle Exclusive for a while as well before the print edition makes a bit of sense. It also gives us the option to offer a special promotion or two along the way and Amazon Prime members can actually borrow the book for free, which is a neat thing.”

TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO features a wonderful cover by Grant Miehm, logo design and print formatting by Sean Ali, and Ebook Formatting by Russ Anderson. Get Your Kindle Copy today for only $2.99.

For review copies of this title, interviews with the authors and creator, and other information concerning this book, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations at MorganMinorProSe@yahoo.com.

For More Information on Pro Se Productions, go to http://www.prose-press.com and like Pro Se on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Friday Chatter

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lg08_samantha_grace_smallA lot of changes have been coming my way as of late and it’s definitely sapped a lot of my enthusiasm for working on the crossover novel. Having said that, I have been adding a little to it here and there so it hasn’t been set aside completely. So far I’ve written a scene introducing the origins of the Occult Forces Project and now I’ve moved on to an action sequence with The Rook. Quality stuff so far, even if there’s a whole lot of quantity yet.

It will add up in the end, though!

I’ve been in contact with artist supreme George Sellas and we’re both hoping that he’ll be able to return for Gravedigger Volume Two but his career is expanding and taking off so we’ll have to see how the schedules work out. George has really defined the look of my pulp adventure universe and I’d certainly love to have him involved in future projects.

I’m expecting to see Tales of The Rook Volume Two released any day now, with an eBook release preceding the print version. It’s got some fun stories by some wonderful authors and a snazzy cover by Grant Miehm. There are no plans for more Tales volumes at this point but you never know with The Rook…!

Today’s art is from the first Lazarus Gray volume and features the lovely Samantha Grace. Hope you enjoy it!

Updates Galore

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ROOK Cvr_FNThey’re predicting snow here in middle Georgia, which is a fairly unusual event. Of course, this winter has been anything but normal so maybe it’s par for the course in 2014.

I’m working on Götterdämmerung, which will be the big crossover novel that I’ve been teasing for awhile. It looks like this will be dominating my writing schedule for some time to come.

On other fronts, Tales of The Rook Volume Two is in final production and should be available soon — it will feature a plethora of great stories and a sterling cover by the one and only Grant Miehm. After that, I think the next thing you’ll see from Reese Unlimited will be The Adventures of Lazarus Gray Volume Four. Good stuff on the way, my friends!

I’ve been fielding many questions about The Shadow Fan’s Podcast… Obviously, things have been very unsettled in my personal life since I resigned from my day job and once all that is straightened out (however long it takes), I hope to have time to revive the show. In the meantime, keep buying the Sanctum reprints and supporting Dynamite’s comic output!

I apologize for all the weirdness in these parts lately — it hasn’t been easy for me, either. But I’ll try to keep the blog going and squeezing in some writing whenever and wherever I can. For those of you who read the Reese Unlimited books, there are plenty of things still to be released in this year and even into 2015 so you won’t experience any disruption at all. It’s just the podcasts and all the back-end stuff that’s getting screwed up.

Things will improve, I’m sure! We just have to believe.

Our art today is Grant Miehm’s cover for Tales of The Rook Volume 2 — enjoy!

See you guys tomorrow.

Odds & Ends — Plus: Tales of The Rook Volume 2’s Cover!

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ROOK Cvr_FNThe weekend is fast approaching, which means that my talk at the Crossroads Writers Conference is starting to sneak up on me. I’ll be talking about the growth of New Pulp and the many publishers that fall into that category… giving people an idea about who to submit to and how to get accepted. It’ll be more thrilling than it sounds (hopefully)!

I was interviewed by the amazingly talented Rachel Helie for the Crossroads website — you can find out my responses by clicking right here.

The Adventures of Gravedigger Volume One picked up a nice little review on Facebook yesterday, courtesy of Mark Beaulieu. This is what he said: I don’t think I’ve mentioned this here yet, but I read Barry Reese’s GRAVEDIGGER vol. 1 and enjoyed it quite a bit. It was a fun, action packed pulp tale. Easily some of his best writing and that’s saying something since his Rook vol. 1 got me reading New Pulp stuff and eventually got me editing for Pro Se Productions (You can like their page). Really fun stuff. And the cover is fantastic. But I’m always partial to Nazi villains. I blame Indiana Jones. (Kindle edition only $2.99)

Thanks, Mark! I’m really pleased that you enjoy the book — hopefully you’ll get just as much enjoyment out of the second book, which should be coming your way in early 2014.

Because I had a sick son yesterday, I wasn’t able to add on to the Pulse Fiction tale I’m currently working on. I did write one hell of a great scene on Tuesday so hopefully I’ll be able to continue that momentum as I head into the second half of the story. I’m looking forward to typing THE END on it.

Pro Se has a number of things in production at the moment – the new edition of Rabbit Heart, Liberty Girl and Tales of The Rook Volume Two are all on the way. Tales of The Rook Volume Two will feature stories from Adam Lance Garcia, Russ Anderson, James Palmer and David White… all behind a gorgeous cover by Grant Miehm! Grant’s work first came to my attention back when he was doing Legend of the Shield for DC Comics and I’ve been a fan ever since. That’s his cover adorning this blog post — and I think it’s a real beaut! I hope you agree!

Take care out there, folks!

A New Review… And Some Chris Batista Artwork!

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barry reese low resWelcome back to Ye Olde Blog as we kick off a new week!

This weekend was an exciting one – not only did we celebrate my son’s 7th birthday and I got to watch the kickoff to the NFL season, but I also got a look at Grant Miehm’s cover for Tales of The Rook Volume Two and Chris Batista’s cover for the still-untitled crossover novel that will feature Gravedigger, Lazarus Gray and The Rook. Both are amazing pieces of work and I think that people will really like them. In fact, today you can get a look at the penciled image of the crossover novel — it’s lo-resolution for now but I think it will more than whet your appetites!

Pretty damned snazzy, eh?

Meanwhile, over at Amazon, a new review was posted for Mystery Men (& Women) Volume One, which was an Airship 27 release that I contributed to back in 2010. Darkendale Raven posted this:

Today I would like to recommend Mystery Men and Women Volume One to all readers out there who love new pulp fiction.

This volume collects four new stories, staring four new heroes of pulp fiction, each created by a different author!
BC Bell brings us yet another adventure of criminal turned vigilante, The Bagman. Frank “Mac” McCullough now fights the very gang bosses he grew up admiring in defense of the poor and helpless in his Chicago neighborhood. The Bagman had smashed the crime rackets in his neighborhood, but now a collector for a protection racket has come to his cigar store. Now the Bagman goes to war with this latest threat. But is his new store clerk involved in the crime or merely a witness to events beyond his control?

Aaron Smith brings us the story of The Red Veil. Maria Smith’s husband, a dedicated policeman, is found gunned down in a deserted apartment. Maria and her mother-in-law try to console each other through this time of grief. Then when nothing is settled on the case, Maria discovers that the case was ordered closed and no investigation actually happened.

Furious with righteous anger, Maria makes a costume from her wedding dress and investigates as The Red Veil. And either by bullet or by the claws she made from her husband’s police badge, The Red Veil is going to make her husband’s murderer pay in blood…

Gordon “Gory” Burrell is a football player with quite the reputation for his skillful play. He is approached by mob members who demand he `throw” a game. When he angrily refuses, the mob breaks both his legs beyond repair.

Then a mysterious Oriental Doctor tells Gordon that he can cure his legs. The operation is a success, giving Gory unbreakable metal bones, but an accident also gives him metal skin. Unable to return to football or his fiancé, Gordon assembles a makeshift costume and becomes Gridiron.

In smashing the mob, Gordon is found by his fiancé, and discovers that not everything went down as he believes it did…

And the final story comes from the prolific Barry Reese, creator of new pulp icons The Rook, Lazarus Gray, and The Gravedigger.

This new heroine is a woman called Dusk. Her strawberry blonde hair and general build seems to indicated that she is, in fact, Sue Timlin, Police Detective Roland Moore’s lovely aide. She also seems to be in any area where Dusk has been seen. But is she really one and the same woman?

She deals with criminals on their own level. She doesn’t hesitate to put a bullet into any evildoer, but she does have a special punishment for the truly wicked. There is something about the face under the mask that causes crooks to relive all of their misdeeds, and to suffer as the victims suffer.

Now a criminal mastermind is after the legendary “Fourth Nail”, a Christian relic said to be unused at the Crucifixion where it was to have pierced the heart of Christ. Now it grants forgiveness for anyone who touches it as well as healing from any disease. One cannot die of natural causes as long as they have that nail.

But Dusk is determined that the crooked leader will never have it, no matter what she has to do.

The Bagman. The Red Veil. Gridiron. Dusk. Four gloriously new pulp heroes and heroines. I do hope that, like the Bagman, the other three will continue to have their adventures recorded.

Quoth the Raven…

Thanks for the review, Raven! I had fun creating Dusk and actually incorporated parts of that story into my Rook universe later on. I don’t have any plans to return to Dusk but it was still fun and I really enjoyed the little twist ending I gave that story.

See you guys tomorrow!

Thursday Ramblings

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20130609-173120.jpgWelcome back to Ye Olde Blog!

I’m almost finished with the big Brother Bones/Lazarus Gray crossover story and will probably be sending it on to Bones creator Ron Fortier for his approval later today. After that, I *really* need to start work on this Pulse Fiction story for Pro Se Press… and then I have this Sherlock Holmes novella I’m supposed to write, also for Pro Se.

But I’m also tempted to finally break down and do a Kindle Worlds story featuring one of the Valiant heroes. I’m leaning towards Shadowman, simply because I think my style is most compatible with that character. My favorite Valiant hero has always been X-O Manowar but Shadowman feels like he could have been one of my own creations so I might go that route. I do wonder if I should take the time to do it, though — maybe I should focus my creative energies on my own projects or ones that I’ve been commissioned to do. Still, it would be fun to do an “official” Valiant story at least once. We’ll see.

On the artistic front, Chris Batista informed me last night that he’s begun laying out the cover to the big Lazarus Gray/The Rook/Gravedigger book. Grant Miehm has also had his sketch approved for Tales of The Rook Volume Two and is hard at work on that one. And let’s not forget George Sellas, who is one interior piece away from finishing up The Rook Volume Three Special Edition! No matter what, the books always look great, thanks to guys like these.

I’ve had the briefest stirrings of a desire to write some more Rook stuff… but I think that will satisfied by the crossover novel, to be honest. If you are a big Rook fan, though, you can expect Tales of The Rook Volume Two in the near future… the third Special Edition… and, of course, Tommy Hancock will be writing Volume Seven, which actually kicks off an entire trilogy that he’ll be handling.

Uploaded the 47th episode of The Shadow Fan’s Podcast yesterday. I had a nice chat with Ralph Grasso, who runs The Shadow Knows Facebook Page. If you’re a fan of The Shadow, you need to be a part of that group! Members include Michael Uslan, Anthony Tollin, Michael Kaluta and a whole lot more — you won’t find a more active Shadow page anywhere and certainly not one with the pedigree of this one! Highly recommended.

Take care, folks!